Warrior/Nuggets Open Thread (Warriors 124, Nuggets 114)

Most people would consider basketball a global commodity, but it was interesting that in the full 3 weeks I spent in India, I had maybe 5 to 7 minutes of total conversations about the sport. Now, all of those minutes were spent discussing the Warriors, which underscores the centrality of the Dubs to the global narrative surrounding basketball, but in India, cricket and soccer (as well as tennis and badminton and chess, where Indian athletes perform well) remain king. Family and friends told me that in the motherland, they can watch any NFL game they want (a perk that requires DirecTV in the US, thanks to stupid location-based blackouts and content restrictions), but basketball availability on TV remains a little sporadic. NBA bigwigs, take note – if you want to tap into a billion-viewer-strong audience, make sure your content is available for people to watch!

With time differences, a loaded schedule, and flaky internet conspiring to keep me totally in the dark about the goings-on in the NBA, I returned to California yesterday to find that Steph Curry is back and absolutely locked in (and shooting above 40% from behind the three point line, hooray!), KD is nursing an injury, Draymond is feuding with the refs, and LaVar Ball said some things he shouldn’t have. I passed out due to jetlag yesterday, so I’m bailing myself out for hopefully the last time with an open thread – what happened last night, other than Steph going bananas and the Warriors avenging a sloppy loss to the Nuggets a few weeks ago? As always, leave your thoughts and analysis in the comments below! Happy New Year everyone.